An analysis of the scale and impact of Scottish migration to Britain's most distant nineteenth-century colony.

Historians have suggested that Scottish influences are more pervasive in New Zealand than in any other country outside Scotland, yet curiously New Zealand's Scots migrants have previously attracted only limited attention. A thorough and interdisciplinary work, Unpacking the Kists is the first in-depth study of New Zealand's Scots migrants and their impact on an evolving settler society.

The authors establish the dimensions of Scottish migration to New Zealand, the principal source areas, the migrants' demographic characteristics, and where they settled in the new land. Drawing from extended case-studies, they examine how migrants adapted to their new environment and the extent of longevity in diverse areas including the economy, religion, politics, education, and folkways. They also look at the private worlds of family, neighbourhood, community, customs of everyday life and leisure pursuits, and expressions of both high and low forms of transplanted culture.

Adding to international scholarship on migrations and cultural adaptations, Unpacking the Kists demonstrates the historic contributions Scots made to New Zealand culture by retaining their ethnic connections and at the same time interacting with other ethnic groups.

“While many books celebrate and even exaggerate Scottish contributions to the making of other nations, Unpacking the Kists provides a refreshing shift of focus to the Scots’ ‘most distant destination,’ and digs deep into the evidence to provide hard data and balanced assessments rather than assumption-based generalizations.” Colin G. Calloway, Department of History, Dartmouth College and author of White People, Indians, and Highlanders: Tribal Peoples and Colonial Encounters in Scotland and America“A landmark publication in New Zealand’s developing historiography of ethnicity among the Pacific nation’s settler population. Provides a solid foundation for further work on both the Scots and other ethnic groups in New Zealand society.” International Journal of Scottish Studies“Unpacking the Kists is an outcome of a scholarly collaboration spanning more than ten years-enriched by discussions at conferences, electronic international communication and sharing of ideas which then led to funding for both established and emerging scholars working on one topic. As such it demonstrates the richness of what can be achieved by such collaborations as well as how vital teams of researchers skilled in different methodological approaches are to providing multi-faceted answers to big and complex questions.” Australian Historical Studies

Brad Patterson was formerly director of the Irish-Scottish studies program at the Victoria University of Wellington.Tom Brooking is professor of history at the University of Otago.Jim McAloon is associate professor of history at the Victoria University of Wellington.

Tables, Figures, and Maps ixAcknowledgments xiiiPreface xvii

1 Taking Stock: New Zealand’s Scottish Migrants 32 Distinguishing Former Worlds: Who Were New Zealand’s Scottish Migrants? 213 Diaspora or Dispersion? Scottish Settlement Patterns in New Zealand 564 Success in a Settler Society: The Scots in New Zealand Economic Life 845 Building New Worlds: Scottish Contributions to New Zealand Civil Society 1166 Transforming the Landscape: Scots and the New Zealand Environment 1447 “Brither Scots Shoulder tae Shoulder”: Scottish Associational Culture in New Zealand 1738 Hearth and Home: Cultural Traditions, Old World Customs, and New World Habits 1979 Occupying the Non-Working Hours: Piety, Leisure, and Discourse 22410 New Zealand’s Place in the Scottish Diaspora and Settler Worlds 255